- 25/10/18
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I would like to share with you my experiences and experiences that I have gained while getting a Ref. 16610 built by a watchmaker.
First of all I did not plan to build a Submariner Date from (used) spare parts. But after I bought a Noob V7 116610 (and a Comex 5514 replica) I realized that I liked the reference 16610 much more than the actual one.
At that point I searched the web for used parts that where used in Ref. 16610.
I found a 3135 movement on eBay that was offered at a unusual low price (400 €). It was described as non working item with some missing or non gen parts inside the movemt. Also the datewheel was missing. From what I've seen on the pictures it was a real R-Factory movement. As my watchmaker already serviced my SA3135 movement in the 116610 LN Rep. I thought that he can fix it by adding a new datewheel and fix the other little problems so I'd hopefully would have a fully working 3135 movement.
Unfortunately this was not the case. Here are some pics of this
Front:
2nd pic from the front:
Back:
And here is the major defect on that movement:
Broken bridge and non gen balance wheel
My watchmaker confirmed that this movement was just scrap as the complete wheelset has been replaced with a China Clone wheelset. And the escape wheel was missing.
At the same time - I had no knowledge of the condition of the scrap movement at that time - I bought a high quality after market case for Ref. 16610 on eBay. This case came from the US and was really of a very high quality.
Another seller on eBay offered a beautiful dial with a unique S in Submariner.
The look of my dial is absolutely authentic, I found this pic on the web:
I got matching hands from seller Michael Klan at tswisst and a 704 triploc Crown again from eBay.
After struggling with the seller of the non working 3135 movement I was able to reverse the purchase of the movement and found a fully working and already serviced original 3135 movement on eBay.
I still had no bezel ring and no bezel insert. As I like the look of the 16610 LV (Kermit) I ordered a bezel ring and a LV insert and a stem winding part at watchparts24 just to complete the watch and get it working.
I have seen some Rolex Sportis with a Nato Strap instead of the classic Oyster Bracelet and liked the look. So I ordered a brown NATO leather strap from Yukiwatch as a perfect match to my Sub.
And here is the result with the LV Insert from watchparts24:
I had the chance to get a blue gen insert and thats how it looks today:
Steps still to do:
Switch the bezel ring and insert to gen parts and get the stem winding part shortened.
And I'm preparing another Franken project.
First of all I did not plan to build a Submariner Date from (used) spare parts. But after I bought a Noob V7 116610 (and a Comex 5514 replica) I realized that I liked the reference 16610 much more than the actual one.
At that point I searched the web for used parts that where used in Ref. 16610.
I found a 3135 movement on eBay that was offered at a unusual low price (400 €). It was described as non working item with some missing or non gen parts inside the movemt. Also the datewheel was missing. From what I've seen on the pictures it was a real R-Factory movement. As my watchmaker already serviced my SA3135 movement in the 116610 LN Rep. I thought that he can fix it by adding a new datewheel and fix the other little problems so I'd hopefully would have a fully working 3135 movement.
Unfortunately this was not the case. Here are some pics of this
Front:
2nd pic from the front:
Back:
And here is the major defect on that movement:
Broken bridge and non gen balance wheel
My watchmaker confirmed that this movement was just scrap as the complete wheelset has been replaced with a China Clone wheelset. And the escape wheel was missing.
At the same time - I had no knowledge of the condition of the scrap movement at that time - I bought a high quality after market case for Ref. 16610 on eBay. This case came from the US and was really of a very high quality.
Another seller on eBay offered a beautiful dial with a unique S in Submariner.
The look of my dial is absolutely authentic, I found this pic on the web:
I got matching hands from seller Michael Klan at tswisst and a 704 triploc Crown again from eBay.
After struggling with the seller of the non working 3135 movement I was able to reverse the purchase of the movement and found a fully working and already serviced original 3135 movement on eBay.
I still had no bezel ring and no bezel insert. As I like the look of the 16610 LV (Kermit) I ordered a bezel ring and a LV insert and a stem winding part at watchparts24 just to complete the watch and get it working.
I have seen some Rolex Sportis with a Nato Strap instead of the classic Oyster Bracelet and liked the look. So I ordered a brown NATO leather strap from Yukiwatch as a perfect match to my Sub.
And here is the result with the LV Insert from watchparts24:
I had the chance to get a blue gen insert and thats how it looks today:
Steps still to do:
Switch the bezel ring and insert to gen parts and get the stem winding part shortened.
And I'm preparing another Franken project.
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